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This is the story of a forgetful traveler, an awesome captain and first officer, and a one-hour delay, combined with a flight right before the Christmas holiday and impending major snowstorm.
Whether I am flying on business or just for fun, I am usually taking photographs and this flight was no exception. My trip started with a flight from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport – my first flight on US Airways – continuing from Charlotte to Atlanta.
All of this, however, is a footnote for the real story.
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Boarding of Flight 863
BOARDING
The flight from JFK was a few minutes late getting into Charlotte but that had no impact given a rolling delay that was first ten minutes, then 20, and then 30. In the interim, I had settled in across from the presumptive gate (it actually changed three times) and was sitting next to the first officer and captain of the Atlanta flight.
I decided it was time for another Starbucks and invited the pilots to join me (the captain demurred but the first officer clearly wanted more caffeine). By the time I came back from Starbucks, I found the two at another gate and we continued with the wait.
Finally, it was time to board. Just like American, US Airways invites first-class passengers to board first. Given my proximity to the gate, I was one of the first on the plane and, after stowing my bags in the overhead bin, popped into the cockpit to say hi and take a photo.
